The Centaur's are half man, and half horse. They have the body of a horse
but, in place of the horse's head the have the torso, head and arms of a man.
Most are wild and savage, known for lustfulness and drunkenness. The exception
is the wise Centaur
Chiron.

The father of Centaurs was Centaurus, who was held
in disrepute by both men and gods. Some accounts claim that he was the son of
Apollo and Stilbe but, the more interesting
accounts say he was fathered by Ixion. He gave birth to the race of Centaurs by
mating with Magnesian mares.

The pivotal event in the history of the Centaurs was their war with the
Lapiths. King Peirithous of the Lapiths inherited
part of Thessaly from his father Ixion. The
Centaurs as grandsons of Ixion claimed they were entitled to part of the land.
After a first round of fighting a peace was arranged. Peirithous invited the
Centaurs to his wedding. Here the Centaurs became drunk, then violent. Under
the lead of Eurytion they attempted to carry off the
Lapith women. In the resulting battle the Centaurs were defeated and driven
from the area.

Chiron was known for his exceptional goodness and wisdom. He was the only
immortal centaur. He became the tutor for a number of famous Greek heroes
including:
Achilles,
Asclepius,
Actaeon.

Despite his immortality he was to end up dying.
Heracles stopped to visit Pholus
. Heracles was thirsty and persuaded Pholus to open a jar of wine that was
the common property of the centaurs. The other centaurs smelled the wine and
came running. A fight broke out between Heracles and the centaurs. Chiron took
no part in the fight but, was accidentally wounded by Heracles. As an
immortal, Chiron could not die but lived in terrible pain.

Chiron then chose to trade his life for the
release of
Prometheus. He may be the Centaur
represented in the constellation Centaurus.

Led the Centaurs in the battle that broke out at Peirithous's wedding.
Losing this battle resulted in the Centaurs being forced out of their home on
Mount Pelion. Later Eurytion forced King Dexamenus to agree to give his
daughter Mnesimache to be his wife. When he came to collect her
Heracles, who was the kings guest killed
him.

A civilized Centaur Pholus invited Heracles
to be his guest. However, the wine he used to entertain Heracles drew the
other Centaurs and a fight resulted. After the fight Pholus accidently dropped
one of Heracles poisoned arrows on his foot and died as a result. Some claim
that Pholus is the individual represented in the constellation Centaurus.

Nessus was driven from his home in Arcadia by
Heracles. He established himself as a
ferryman on the river Evenus. He even claimed to be appointed to the task by
the gods because of his good character. Years later he had the task of ferrying
Heracles bride Deianeira while Heracles crossed on his own. Nessus took
advantage of the situation to try to rape Deianeira. Heracles prevented this by
shooting him with a poison arrow. As he was dying he persuaded Deianeira that a
love charm made from his blood would insure Heracles faithfulness. In fact, he
knew this charm to be poisonous. Ultimately it was this charm that killed
Heracles.